LAFAYETTE, Ind. – When Sen. Todd Young rolled into the Jefferson Centre Senior Apartments Monday morning to say it was time to talk about affordable housing, Marie Morse was ready with some recommendations of her own.

“You are talking our language here,” Morse told Young, in front of nearly two dozen people, including state lawmakers and those in Greater Lafayette’s affordable housing social services sector.

In May, Young was among a mix of Republican and Democratic senators who introduced the bill, which would establish an 18-member committee that would be given 18 months to make recommendations about how federal affordable housing programs could work better.

Young, a former Republican member of the U.S. House elected senator in 2016, said he came away from a series of roundtables across the state – in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville and into rural Indiana – surprised by how pressing the issue was.

“One of the really fascinating things is that time and again housing affordability came up,” Young said. “The opioid crisis came up. These are not red or blue issues. These are not Democrat or Republican, or liberal or conservative issues. These are just issues affecting people of modest means around the state of Indiana. Incidentally, they’re also impacting our labor force. So, they need to be addressed.”

Addressed how? Young said he wasn’t sure. The first step, he said, was to figure out the cost on schools, law enforcement, transportation and jobs caused by the lack of affordable housing. Until then, Young said he was doing what he could to localize the issue across the state and to drum up support for the bill.

As the affordable housing advocates left Old Jeff, Young took up a number of topics. Here are excerpts of the conversation.

Question: What are you hearing from Hoosiers about the tariffs?

Young: I’m hearing almost nothing from Hoosiers about the tariffs. It may surprise you. I’ve been on record saying that they’re a real concern. But I share the president’s goals in making sure China does not steal our intellectual property and engaging in other bad behavior. Instead, what I’m hearing more about is the opioid crisis and the need to continue to stay vigilant at levels of government in dealing with that. The need to up-skill our workforce – not just today’s workers, but looking forward to the next generation and coming up with a new way of educating our workers so everyone can meaningfully participate in a growing economy. I’m hearing about housing affordability, something I just mention. A lot less about trade than you might think. That could change.

Q: Let's follow up a little bit on tariffs. So, you're not hearing a lot about it, but how do you feel the president has been handling it, about rolling it out in bits and pieces?

Young: I think the president has done the right thing by elevating the predatory economic practices of China and, frankly, some other countries, like India and Brazil, to lesser degrees, and indicating that we need to deal with this. Those are state capitalist models, but they not only directly steal our intellectual property, (they) force transfer of technology and dump commodities through the production of state-owned enterprise in the United States, thus putting Hoosier and other American workers on the streets. And so, these long-standing issues need to be addressed.

With that said, I think, like most Hoosiers, that we need to take a targeted approach as we deal with this situation. My preference would be that that approach be put pen to paper so that we actually have more clarity about the strategy. We do this with respect to a national security strategy, periodically. Every president is required to produce a national security strategy working with states and defense and treasury and other agencies of government, and then, is synthesized by our national security adviser. I think, an analogous effort needs to be made with respect to our national economic security strategy, that's why I put together legislation that would require such production, not just by this president, but by future presidents. …

Q: Do you believe the tariffs are causing instability with our relations with Canada, with China, with everyone else? Are you concerned about that?

Young: I think the president has brought up some important and legitimate grievances with respect to even our trading partners and our allies, but I think, the main focus needs to be moving forward on attaining the Chinese and their practices, which pose a much greater threat to the United States than those of our good friends.

Q: Last week, the West Lafayette City Council did what a number of city councils in Indiana have done in recent weeks, in asking for legislation aimed at closing background check loopholes in private sales of guns and keeping guns out the hands of those convicted of domestic violence. The city council called on Congress to work on that. What’s your response?

Young: I'm proud of the things we've done, this Congress, to help keep our children safe in school from any mass casualty events, whether they involve guns or other things. So, we've provided resources, in addition to those that already existed, to help harden schools. And I'm also proud that here at the state and local levels, there's a dedication to being candid with local taxpayers that if they really want to harden schools, they're going to have to ask their constituents to invest in that security.

Secondarily, with respect to background checks, we've enhanced the background check system to make it more robust. I think that's a really good thing. I think the Trump administration was right to regulate, effectively, out of the existence bump stocks. … So, there are a lot of constructive things we've already done, this Congress.

To speak directly to one of the other things you asked about, I also support the state of Indiana collectively coming together and indicating that we wanted to have a so-called “red flag” law in this state. (Note: A “red flag” law allows law enforcement to seek court orders to temporarily restrict someone’s access to guns if that person shows signs of danger toward others or to himself.) In fact, we have the strongest red flag law, as you know, in the country, and other states are increasingly looking to Indiana and considering whether or not they're going to establish their own red flag laws. I think that's an important state prerogative and I would expect other states would continue to follow us.

Q: With the Senate race going on (between Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly and Republican Mike Braun), you and Sen. Donnelly have done quite a bit together throughout the past two years. How are you approaching this election as you watch that race?

Young: I'm very clear that I'm a conservative Republican, and I believe we need to strengthen the Republican majority. We learned that when we passed, with only Republican support, this historic tax legislation to help our economy grow for the first time in over 31 years. … We learned that, with respect to the health care vote, where we fell one vote s to be the United States senator as we head in to next year, and so my duty and my i hort. Clearly, we need to strengthen our Republican majority. But I will work hard with whomever happens ntention is to do that.

Q: About the Supreme Court nomination, are you set on your vote on that?

Young: You know, I am very favorably disposed towards supporting Judge (Brett) Kavanaugh to be the next justice of the Supreme Court. I visited with him. I've read some of his cases. I've read other writings that indicate how he construes the Constitution and how he interprets statutes and I feel very comfortable that he will apply the law to the facts of the given case as opposed to legislating from the bench, as we say, and I am waiting to see how the hearings go and what else we learn in coming weeks before making my final decision.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.